The Hunted
by FallenFromGrace1882
Summary: A despicable force hunts the cats of the forest. Four Clans- MapleClan, WillowClan, FirClan and AshClan must unite in order to prevent their potential demise. T for violence and gore.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

The full moon hung high over the forest, casting its pearly light on the clearing below. The heavy silence was accented by the occasional staccato chirps of crickets.

A massive stone stood off to one side of the clearing, towering over the clearing. Atop the stone, a figure and a small group of others stood, peering down below.

Beneath the stone, a large gathering of cats crouched below, tails lashing and fur on end. A large black tom glared up at the figures above, his teeth bared threateningly.

"What have you done," he snarled. From the stone, one of the figures, a ginger tabby, snorted with laughter. Silhouetted in silver, his muzzle and jaws were wet with blood.

"Absolutely nothing! Just had a little...snack," he purred innocently. He swiped his jaw with his tongue, visibly delighted by the taste.

"You lie," the black tom roared. "I can smell it from here. That's cat blood."

"And what of it?" The tabby's tail twitched playfully. He glanced back at his companions, each as gleeful and covered in blood as the next. They remained silent, but their excitement was overwhelming.

"A snack? A snack? You've been eating cats you monsters," a second tom, a larger brown tabby growled. "Is this just a game to you?"

"Not really," the tabby shrugged.

"Why would you do such a thing Rowanfur," another cat whispered from the crowd. "How could you do such a thing?"

"Sorry Cherrystar. That's not something I wish to divulge," Rowanfur meowed. His eyes lit up. "But we should probably go. This doesn't seem like a very welcoming environment." He and his group turned to leave. Cherrystar took a step forward.

"Get back here," she snapped.

"And what? Why do you think we'd listen to you? How very naive of you," he mused. He gracefully leapt down from the stone and disappeared swiftly through the surrounding bushes, quickly followed by the rest of his group.

The clearing remained silent for a heartbeat before erupting into chaos.

"Someone go after them!" A wave of cats surged forward, but were halted by a sharp meow.

"Not everyone has to go. Just a few from each Clan. Everyone else back to their camps," Cherrystar ordered.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

The sun was just beginning to peek through the lowest branches of the forest. Wolfpaw stifled a yawn as he sniffed warily at a clump of bracken. It had been two dawns since the chaotic defection of the group of warriors. From what he knew, every Clan had been carefully combing their respective territories for any sign of the newly banded group of rogues.

He understood that they were probably still there, lurking on the edge of the forest, but he simply couldn't believe it. To think that a cat could be capable of such an atrocity was mind blowing.

A sudden stench of decay wafted towards him. Brushing past the bracken, he followed the scent towards a large hollowed out log. The stench was almost unbearable as he parted the branches of a blackberry bush.

It was an half eaten corpse. Of a cat. He leaned forward to inspect it, but scrabbled backwards upon seeing a writhing mass of maggots live amongst the remains.

"V-Voletooth," he stammered. "Voletooth, where are you," he called out again, as loudly as he could. He moved away from the bush, shivering at the thought of the body. It was absolutely revolting.

Moments later, three cats came into view. Voletooth, his mentor, was in the lead. His slid to a halt beside his apprentice.

"What is it? And what's that smell," he asked sharply. Wolfpaw silently motioned toward the bush. He and the second cat, Tansyheart, pulled back the branches.

Tansyheart let out a small gasp of horror while Voletooth made an audibly sharp intake of breath. He turned to the third cat.

"Blackpaw, go get Lionstar quickly," he ordered. The apprentice dipped his head and took off in the direction of camp. Voletooth moved forward to inspect the corpse, clearly fighting every urge to recoil. Feeling a surge of bravery, Wolfpaw joined his mentor.

Even without the maggots, the body was a horrific sight. Flesh was torn from most of the upper body, including from the face. Some of a hind leg was thoroughly gnawed away, barely held on to the rest of the body by a single ligament.

"Pinefur," Voletooth breathed. Wolfpaw looked to his mentor in shock. Pinefur was one of the best fighters in MapleClan, despite being one of the older warriors. How on earth did they manage to get him by himself? And more importantly, when?

Tansyheart appeared beside them, a large stick clamped in her jaws. She carefully used it to maneuver the body on to its back. There was a large gaping hole in the chest. Wolfpaw could just barely notice something disturbing: the heart was gone.

"This is appalling," Voletooth growled. "They need to pay for this." Tansyheart nodded absentmindedly, obviously lost in her own thoughts.

It felt like forever before Blackpaw returned with Lionstar. The large golden tom didn't bother with greeting his fellow Clan members, but padded straight for Pinefur. He gripped a low hanging branch to sweep away most of the maggots before inspecting it for himself.

"His heart's missing," he murmured, half to himself. "He's been here for at least three dawns…"

Tansyheart moved next to him, her ears perked up in curiosity. "How could they have gotten him without any of us scenting them?"

"They must be craftier than we think," Lionstar meowed. He turned to the two apprentices. "Blackpaw, Wolfpaw...you may now return to camp," he ordered firmly. Not waiting for a response, he turned his back and began talking to his two warriors.

As they made their way back to camp, Blackpaw began a deluge of questions.

"Did you look at the body," he asked eagerly.

"Y-yeah…"

"What did it look like?"

"Gross. It was a bloody mangled mess. Lots of maggots," Wolfpaw wrinkled his nose at the mere recollection.

"Do you think Rowanfur and his group did it?"

"Don't be stupid. Of course they did he," he meowed crossly. The younger apprentice fell silent, occasionally casting a look of wonder at Wolfpaw.

X

Wolfpaw slipped through the small opening in the nettle barrier. A sudden feeling of exhaustion washing over him. Unfortunately, small group of apprentices was already gathering around him.

"Did you see the body?"

"Was it gross?"

"Could you tell who it was?"

"Yes, yes, and not really," Wolfpaw answered truthfully. He couldn't tell who it was, it was only thanks to Voletooth that he knew. He forced his way through the group and began heading to the apprentice's den. He felt it was best to skip eating and just go sleep for a bit.


End file.
